During last week's debate, Hillary Clinton had a flash of understanding about how ugly her attacks make her and she finished on a a warm, graceful note that seemed to acknowledge she'll be throwing in the towel soon.

But the nasty attacks over the weekend, when she went back to the mean-spiirited and "abandon hope all ye who live in the USA" meme would have flipped me from her to Obama, if I wasn't already headed in that direction. What could we expect from her as a president when we've witnessed this throughly unpleasant side of her personality? The personal meanness, the denigration of hope and inspiration, and the Bush-like insistance on not talking to anyone who doesn't meet a particular standard (whether it's Iran, Cuba or MSNBC) erase those two times she put on a performance of appealing humanity.

Get the cane and get her off the stage!

McCain could never choose a Veep who's ten inches taller than him - how ridiculous he'd look at a podium with younger, more vital-looking Romney towering over him.

And Crist is a reasonable choice for McCain - he's already doing McCain another favor in trying to help Hillary Clinton to the Democratic nomination. Good state for him to draw a vice-presidential candidate from, too.

Independents will be deserting mcCain in droves as he moves rightward, rightward, rightward to court the Republican base. There's more yet to come with missteps in his campaign - he wasn't scrutinized a whole lot in the run-up to the primaries because he'd been written off last summer.

And Cindy "Monochrome" McCain will have to start talking one of these days, too - apparently she isn't much of an asset because she's always a couple of feet behind Senator M, and silent. She may be a drag on him when they start "vetting" her.

"they" should study more of the risk factors for unplanned pregnancies. Women who are depressed, in unequal relationships. who have unprotected sex because of a myriad of situations...may also include a significant number of women with mental health issues in the first place.

There was an article in Psychology Today many years ago that posited that powerless women were more at risk than men for mental illness because it is a "way out" for the powerless. It was a fascinating article that I wish I'd saved.

I would argue that neither an abortion or other medical procedure can put a person on a mental path that they were not already on.

I had an abortion 30 years ago. According to the medical opinion I'd been given, I should have been unable to conceive. But I did, twice in rapid succession, when I was unprepared in all ways to be a parent. Yes, I had two abortions. I have no regrets. I have a wonderful, grown family, who were conceived when I was in a mature and committed relationship and we were prepared to raise and nurture children.

There is a terrible risk for women who are in need of intimacy to simply hook up with bad partners. Pregnancies that result from terrible relationships - and children that result from such, are not good things.

I would argue that in at least a majority of cases, a woman who exhibits symptoms of mental illness after an abortion, had the illness in the first place and the mores under which she was raised exacerbated the problem, if an abortion is indicated as a factor.

In individual cases, I'm sure there are some who had psychological effects from a number of procedures. Were the effects caused more by the actual procedures or by the underlying problems that the individuals had in the first place?

I think we live in a time and place that allows us to feel guilty over perfectly practical medical and life decisions. We're soft.

but what a load of merde.

There's an underlying premise here that raising children means throwing your brains out the window.

Not true.

I'm more exhausted and drained from my "professional" work at the time I'm reading and responding to this to do it meaningfully - than I ever was in the 15 years I adventured with my growing children.

Any work, fiction or nonfiction, that reduces women or men to types and stereotypes has no validity. While I haven't read the book that prompted this interview, it appears that it's based on the idea of women judging themselves by their corporate worth after years of boredom at home in a New York where they're affluent enough to be able to afford to be home. How universal!

Don't make me retch just before bedtime - it's bad for my teeth.